Match Against Poverty

The Match against poverty is organized every year since 2003, at the initiative of football legends and UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors Zinédine Zidane and Ronaldo, to raise awareness and mobilize public opinion for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Previous matches

2014: Bern, Switzerland - The XI Match Against Poverty raised $ 190,000 for recovery efforts in the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.

2012: Porto Alegre, Brazil - The 10th Match Against Poverty raises US $360,000 to support UNDP projects in Brazil and Cape Verde

2011: Hamburg, Germany - The 9th Match against Poverty raised more than US$100,000 for humanitarian and relief operations in the Horn of Africa.

Adopted in 2000 and re–affirmed by the leaders of 191 countries at the UN Summit in 2005, the Goals seek to halve world poverty by 2015 by setting targets for rolling back hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women.

"The fight against poverty is not a game," says Ronaldo. "We use this match as a way to raise funds and to make people aware of the fact that the solution to this problem is in our hands. It is by working together that we will all win the Match against Poverty.

Ronaldo and Zidane are respectively at the helm of two international teams competing during a friendly match. The objective is to raise funds to support specific development projects selected by UNDP.

The annual match - which is televised globally - is supported by both football’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

The 10th Match in Porto Alegre followed nine successful editions that took place in Basel, Madrid, Dusseldorf, Marseille, Málaga, Fez, Lisboa, Athens and Hamburg. Each year funds raised support specific projects in different countries facing difficult challenges.

Proceeds from the 10th Match in Brazil were to be split between two projects – one in Brazil and one in Cape Verde, West Africa, both aimed at re-integrating marginalized youth. In Brazil, proceeds will fund the “Rede Esporte para Mudança Social (REMS)” a project that promotes poverty reduction and social inclusion through sports.

The 12th Match Against Poverty will take place on 20 March 2015 at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne, France. Two thirds of all proceeds will go towards helping the hardest-hit countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone build back better from the Ebola epidemic. The remaining third will go to the Club’s Association, ASSE Coeur-Vert, which supports social projects in Saint-Etienne.

Ronaldo and Zinédine Zidane will mobilize their team of internationally renowned football players for a friendly match against an All-Star team.